Page 28 of Viking

“I can’t win with you, bitch. It was this, or risk scarring the tip of that cute as fuck button nose with his other pincher.”

She’s still frowning, but she takes a tentative step forward and reaches for the dismembered claw. Then she tosses it into the ocean.

“The fuck? You could still eat that.”

Her perfect little nose scrunches in disgust. She glances at the crabs in the ice chest and then back at the one in my hand. “You wanna touch it?”

Arie shakes her head, but I hold it out to her.

“Go on, if you grab him from the back like this, he won’t pinch you.”

I turn the crab to face me so she can safely take him from behind. She holds the creature and turns it toward her, looking at his beady little eyes, though she’s careful to avoid his remaining nipper. She studies his wound and frowns again. And then she shocks the shit out of me by throwing him back into the ocean.

She chuckles as her eyes meet mine and a sly smile spreads across her face as she passes.

Fuck me.This bitch is just full of surprises.

I stuff the trap with chicken parts, toss it back in the water and head back to the helm to start the boat and collect the five remaining pots.

While I’m baiting the last trap, Arie grunts. I turn my head to look at her as she tips up the ice chest and tosses my entire catch for the day overboard.

She laughs and claps her hands, doing a little jig on my aft deck. I don’t even care that she just cost me several hundred dollars. It’s worth it to see her smiling for once.

“Alright, little siren. You win.”

She smiles, adjusting the knit cap on her head. Her skin is brighter, her cheeks and nose rosy, and not just from the bitter wind.

“You look like Rudolph.”

Arie’s smile falters and she pulls a face, as if she doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about. I reach out and grab her nose, and she playfully bats me away.

I head back to the helm and start the engine. The ride back to the marina is quiet, seeing as I’m the only one who can talk, but Arie’s mood has lifted. She looks alive, her green eyes soaking in everything. She points to a buoy bobbing up and down in the choppy water.

“It’s a buoy,” I say, knowing she wants to know what the bright yellow marker does. “They’re like signals. They tell you where it’s safe to travel.”

“S-s-safe.” She winces and presses her hand to her throat.

My jaw drops, and I blink like a fucking douche canoe. “Fuck, woman. Did you just speak?”

“Safe,” Arie croaks. She points a bony finger—not to the buoy, or the boat—but to me. “Safe.”

I can’t help the smile that breaks out of my lips. “Yeah, baby. I’m safe.”

Her smile is sheepish, just a twitch of her lips, but it’s fucking stunning. I steer us back to the marina even though a part of me doesn’t want to leave this boat. Arie made a real breakthrough today.Wemade a fucking breakthrough. And I don’t care if I have to lose thousands of dollars on blue soft-shell crab because she wants to set them free. If I have to get her sweet ass on this boat every day just to hear her voice again, just to hear my little siren sing. I’ll do it.

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